UAH's NCAA hockey 'big dance' card starts with Miami (Ohio)

MADISON -- All eyes were on the nearly 20 TV screens Sunday morning at a packed Steve McQueen's sports pub ready to see "Alabama-Huntsville" pop up during espn2's "Selection Show" for the NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.

"Yeah!" came from an assortment of UAH players, coaches and fans when game highlights were shown.

Then, the building grew quiet before cheers of "Yay!" erupted when it was shown the Chargers would face top-seeded Miami (Ohio) on Saturday in the semifinals of the Midwest Regional at Fort Wayne, Ind. The other semifinal pits UAH arch-rival Bemidji State against the University of Michigan.

"We had a good idea after (Saturday) night's games, it would be Miami and Fort Wayne," said UAH head coach Danton Cole. "Regardless, this is very exciting and great for the program."

A program that will be without a league next year.

The Midwest Regional features a pair of Central Collegiate Hockey Association teams (Miami and Michigan) against two College Hockey America teams (UAH, Bemidji) and regular season champions vs. league tournament winnners (Michigan vs. UAH and Bemidji vs. Michigan).

It also has UAH taking on the champion of the league that rejected the Chargers' application to join last summer.

"That has no bearing on us," Cole said, dismissing any notion of revenge. "We are going forward, that would be a distraction."

For the university, though, reaching the NCAA Tournament is "absolutely huge," said athletic director Jim Harris.

"This ensures that people will be talking about UAH, still," he said.

The RedHawks (27-7-7, 21-2-5 CCHA) are making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance overall and sixth in the past seven years. Miami lost 2-1 in overtime to Boston University in last year's Frozen Four championship game.

Meanwhile, the Chargers (12-17-3, 8-10-2 CHA) are in the "big dance" for just the second time in the program's history, though it is the second time since 2007.

"This is awesome," said senior forward Tom Train, a member of the 2007 team that took No. 1 Notre Dame to double overtime, before losing 3-2 in the regional semifinals. "We always knew we had a shot if we played it right.